Scheduled backups not running

(@joe9663)

Hi Mike!

I can’t say for certain, but it is possible that the vanishing cron events might also be related to GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress platform. I found some threads in their support forums with conflicting information and you should probably reach out to them for clarification on this matter.

One topic suggests that WP-Cron should be allowed even though the the system level Cron is disabled. However, I found two other threads stating that WP-Cron events were not working as expected for those users.

Hopefully GoDaddy can help you figure out why WP-Cron isn’t working and please let us know if you have any other questions for us!

Thread Starter

(@mhartste)

Hi Joseph – Thanks for your quick reply!

I have not had problems with any other cron jobs, just this one. So I know that the cron system is working fine.

More likely, it has something to do with the boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs event itself. Possibly it has some error, or possibly there is some conflict with another plugin.

How can we identify the issue with the boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs event to see why it is dying?

Thanks,

Mike

Plugin Contributor

(@joe9663)

Hi Mike!

Where exactly are you seeing the boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs and boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_backup appear and then disappear from? Is there anything displayed in the WP Cron jobs field under the Cron section of the Preflight Check tool in Total Upkeep?

If the cron jobs are disappearing because of a plugin malfunction then you might be able to correct the error by deleting and then reinstalling Total Upkeep to help ensure that all of the plugins files are properly in place.

Are you running any caching plugins on your website? I have seen a few cases in the past where WP-Cron events did not trigger on websites that had Object Caching enabled in a caching plugin, maybe that is what’s happening here?

You can also test for plugin conflicts by temporarily deactivating every other plugin on your website to see if that allows the cron jobs from Total Upkeep to stick. If those jobs persist with everything else deactivated then you can reactivate the other plugins one by one to see where the potential conflict is coming from.

Another thing that you can do is installed WP Crontrol to get some additional information about all of the WP Cron events on your website and potentially find the source of the problem that way.

Thread Starter

(@mhartste)

Hi Joseph –

Ok, I deactivated all plugins on my site, except for Total Upkeep and WP Crontrol, and after a few minutes the boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs event still disappears. So it is not a conflict with some other plugin. And it is WP Crontrol which allows me to see that the event is disappearing.

And I do not have any caching plugin.

In the Preflight tab, here is what the cron section says, after the cron event has gone away:

Cron

System crontab available? No
PHP allow_url_fopen enabled? No
Curl SSL enabled? No
Can fetch a remote url via CLI? No
Cron time zone matches server time zone?
(Test may take up to 25 minutes to complete)
Cron jobs:
Method used to read cron: Crontab output to file.
WP Cron enabled? Yes
WP Cron jobs:
boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_backup (weekly starting 2022.09.03 09:00:00 am UTC)

And if I deactivate, then re-activate the Total Upkeep plugin, I see an additional cron job:

Cron

System crontab available? No
PHP allow_url_fopen enabled? No
Curl SSL enabled? No
Can fetch a remote url via CLI? No
Cron time zone matches server time zone?
(Test may take up to 25 minutes to complete)
Cron jobs:
Method used to read cron: Crontab output to file.
WP Cron enabled? Yes
WP Cron jobs:
boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs (every-5-minutes starting 2022.08.31 04:57:12 pm UTC)
boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_backup (weekly starting 2022.09.03 09:00:00 am UTC)

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Mike

Plugin Contributor

(@joe9663)

Hi Mike!

I spoke to Brad, the lead developer for Total Upkeep, about this and right now we’re both stumped. It looks like we will need to get some additional information to figure out what is responsible for removing that Cron job.

Brad came up with a solution to log the removal of that Cron job and made a short video demonstrating how you can add the logging to your website.

You will need to install the Code Snippets plugin to apply the code to your website and the exact code is provided in the video description.

Hopefully the custom logging points us towards the culprit and please send us those results whenever you have a chance!

Thread Starter

(@mhartste)

Hi Joseph & Brad –

Yes, I’d be happy to work with you to debug the issue.

Can you send me the pre_clear_scheduled_hook code, and I can install it on my system?

Thanks,

Mike

Plugin Contributor

(@joe9663)

https://gist.github.com/bwmarkle/c3ad9d5e7e2667f5c66c4ac564c7b050

Hi Mike!

There should a be link in the video description to a GitHub Gist that contains the exact code, but here is the link to view that data just in case there are any problems displaying the video description on your end.

Thanks again for all your help troubleshooting this!

Thread Starter

(@mhartste)

Here is the log file:

Plugin Author

Brad Markle

(@bwmarkle)

Hi Mike.

The log files goes from 2022-09-01 16:10:38 UTC to 2022-09-01 16:10:50 UTC, a total of 12 seconds.

The first time boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs was cleared, it was because you were deactivated the plugin, and the next time because you activated it. On activation, it’s intended that it first clear crons before adding them back.

What I was hoping for was that you activate the plugin, and leave things as is (in a working order)… Then, when you notice the cron has been removed (I’m not sure how long that usually happens), we can look again at the log to see what removed it.

Thread Starter

(@mhartste)

Hi Brad –

I see what you mean.

I deactivated and reactivated the plugin again to get the event back. And after a few minutes it disappeared again. But in the later log file there again looks like there is only the deactivation/reactivation. So could it be that the event disappearance is not being logged?

Plugin Author

Brad Markle

(@bwmarkle)

The wp_clear_scheduled_hook function that we’re watching shows us that the crons are stored in the “cron” option, and are retrieved using the _get_cron_array() function.

What this means is that technically something may be bypassing wp_clear_scheduled_hook() directly and instead just editing the “cron” option directly.

I updated the snippet (here’s the new snippet). It watches for any changes to the “cron” option. If the old value contains “boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs” and the new one doesn’t (e.g. it’s being removed), it’ll add it to a Total Upkeep “update_option.log” log (instead of pre_clear_scheduled_hook.log)

Can you try the new snippet?

Thread Starter

(@mhartste)

With the new snipped, the event is listed but it didn’t run:

boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs
Edit | Run Now | Delete
None 2022-09-01 13:03:45
21 minutes 14 seconds ago
Boldgrid_Backup_Admin_Jobs->run()
Every 5 minutes

And nothing was logged.

Thread Starter

(@mhartste)

Hi Brad –

Here is some further info.

That code snippet apparently changed the behavior of the plugin. As I said on my last post, the cron event no longer disappeared, but it also didn’t run.

And yesterday, just to see what would happen, I executed the Run Now option for the event. Nothing seemed to happen. But the event seemed like it ran every 5 minutes, and as of this morning it didn’t disappear.

I scheduled a backup for the middle of the night to see if it would work. It did not run. So even though the cron job is still there, and I think it is running, there is something still wrong.

And I also received an email this morning indicating a problem with the snippet. (There was also another person using my system at the time, so don’t completely rely on this info.)

————————-

Howdy!

Since WordPress 5.2 there is a built-in feature that detects when a plugin or theme causes a fatal error on your site, and notifies you with this automated email.

In this case, WordPress caught an error with one of your plugins, Code Snippets.

First, visit your website (https://258.2ff********/) and check for any visible issues. Next, visit the page where the error was caught (https://258.2ff********/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2F258.2ff.myftpupload.com%2F%3Fpage_id%3D273&action=confirm_admin_email&wp_lang=en_US) and check for any visible issues.

Please contact your host for assistance with investigating this issue further.

If your site appears broken and you can't access your dashboard normally, WordPress now has a special "recovery mode". This lets you safely login to your dashboard and investigate further.

https://258.2ff********/wp-login.php?action=enter_recovery_mode&rm_token=TMX9Drguf7hG3qOxAKv7BE&rm_key=W7ulcpMF6a6qyambkqPbXJ

To keep your site safe, this link will expire in 1 day. Don't worry about that, though: a new link will be emailed to you if the error occurs again after it expires.

When seeking help with this issue, you may be asked for some of the following information:
WordPress version 6.0.2
Active theme: OceanWP Child (version 3.1.2.1642026466)
Current plugin: Code Snippets (version 3.2.0)
PHP version 7.4.30

Error Details
=============
An error of type E_ERROR was caused in line 14 of the file /var/www/wp-content/plugins/code-snippets/php/snippet-ops.php(484) : eval()'d code. Error message: Uncaught Error: Class 'Boldgrid_Backup_Admin_Log' not found in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/code-snippets/php/snippet-ops.php(484) : eval()'d code:14
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(307): {closure}('cron', Array, Array)
#1 /var/www/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(331): WP_Hook->apply_filters('', Array)
#2 /var/www/wp-includes/plugin.php(476): WP_Hook->do_action(Array)
#3 /var/www/wp-includes/option.php(486): do_action('update_option', 'cron', Array, Array)
#4 /var/www/wp-includes/cron.php(1203): update_option('cron', Array)
#5 /var/www/wp-includes/cron.php(527): _set_cron_array(Array, false)
#6 /var/www/wp-cron.php(127): wp_unschedule_event(1662064425, 'boldgrid_backup...', Array)
#7 /var/www/wp-includes/cron.php(888): include_once('/var/www/wp-cro...')
#8 /var/www/wp-includes/cron.php(1004): spawn_cron(1662102090.3857)
#9 /var/www/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(307): _wp_cron('')
#10 /var/www/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(331): WP_Hook->apply_filters(NULL, Array)
#11 /var/www/wp-includes/p

————————-

The site appears to be working normally.

Hopefully this further info is helpful.

Thanks,

Mike

Plugin Contributor

(@joe9663)

Hi Mike!

Well at least the run_jobs cron isn’t disappearing any more so it sounds like we’re making some progress.

Which cron event did you try the Run Now option on? Was it boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_run_jobs, boldgrid_backup_wp_cron_backup, or both?

Are the Total Upkeep cron jobs the only ones that aren’t triggering or are there other crons that are overdue?

I looked through some of GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress information and one of the listed features is server-level caching, maybe that is having some effect on the WP-Cron schedule. I found some info on clearing that cache but I am curious if there is a way to temporarily deactivate it, just to rule that out as a potential cause. Are there any tools available in the server management interface that allow you to disable caching?

Thread Starter

(@mhartste)